1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:04,700 Technology is progressing so rapidly these days, the future really is today. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:10,580 Our phones are smarter than last year's PCs, and cars can actually parallel park on their own. 3 00:00:10,919 --> 00:00:14,439 And tonight, John Coleman is excited about another breakthrough on the horizon, 4 00:00:14,740 --> 00:00:17,140 and he joins us now with a special report. John? 5 00:00:17,620 --> 00:00:21,699 Well, Alan and Sandra, remember this word, graphene. 6 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:26,260 The word is so new, the spell check in your computer doesn't know it yet. 7 00:00:26,260 --> 00:00:33,780 But graphene, it's going to be the breakthrough new product of the first half of the 21st century. 8 00:00:36,039 --> 00:00:37,539 I just want to say one word to you. 9 00:00:38,619 --> 00:00:40,520 Just one word. 10 00:00:41,979 --> 00:00:42,840 Yes, sir. 11 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:44,060 Are you listening? 12 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:44,880 Yes, I am. 13 00:00:45,979 --> 00:00:46,619 Plastics. 14 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:51,740 Exactly. How do you mean? 15 00:00:52,359 --> 00:00:53,619 There's a great future in plastics. 16 00:00:54,420 --> 00:00:55,380 Think about it. 17 00:00:55,380 --> 00:01:01,579 That was 1967, when the movie The Graduate named plastic as the product of the future. 18 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:04,040 And, wow, was that on target. 19 00:01:04,500 --> 00:01:06,859 While plastic had been invented a century before, 20 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:11,079 modern industrialized plastics were just sweeping the market. 21 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:15,319 And now, almost everything around us is made from some form of plastic. 22 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:20,900 From the case of your TV set, to your phone case, to much of your car, 23 00:01:21,540 --> 00:01:24,739 plastic is a key element of our industrialized life. 24 00:01:25,379 --> 00:01:30,079 And now comes graphene, called by some simply G. 25 00:01:30,079 --> 00:01:40,000 G is the first 2D crystal ever known to us, the thinnest object ever obtained, and also the lightest one. 26 00:01:40,659 --> 00:01:48,340 G is the world's strongest material, harder than diamond and about 300 times stronger than steel. 27 00:01:49,519 --> 00:01:52,519 G conducts electricity much better than copper. 28 00:01:52,519 --> 00:02:01,920 g is a transparent material g is bendable and can take any form you want wow this is much better 29 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:07,680 stuff than plastic it will be used to project pictures and be our less than paper thick 30 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:13,560 computer touch screens with the entire computer built into it it will be used in medicine to do 31 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:20,539 procedures that we simply can't do today and get this it's now being developed by lockheed martin 32 00:02:20,539 --> 00:02:27,900 a filter for saltwater desalination from ocean saltwater to drinking water at a cost of about 33 00:02:27,900 --> 00:02:35,560 one percent of the current cost. Graphene will make drinkable ocean water far, far cheaper 34 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:41,099 than importing water from the mountains. It seems that there is a real possibility 35 00:02:41,099 --> 00:02:48,139 this is the amazing new basic material to be used for just about everything in our daily lives 36 00:02:48,139 --> 00:02:56,379 within 30 years. Graphene is made of pure carbon that is arranged in a regular hexagonal pattern 37 00:02:56,379 --> 00:03:04,039 similar to graphite. It was first developed in 1962. The term graphene first appeared in 1987. 38 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:11,139 The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2010 was awarded to two scientists at the University of Manchester 39 00:03:11,139 --> 00:03:16,219 for, quote, groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material 40 00:03:16,219 --> 00:03:24,599 graphene, unquote. This is a nanotechnology material with its single atom units so tiny 41 00:03:24,599 --> 00:03:31,039 they can only be distinguished under a powerful microscope. This team of physicists at Aachen 42 00:03:31,039 --> 00:03:36,300 University are celebrating because they've received a huge cash award from the European Union 43 00:03:36,300 --> 00:03:42,000 to further the studies there of graphene. One of the scientists, Marcus Morgenstern, 44 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:43,699 tells about graphene. 45 00:03:43,979 --> 00:03:46,340 It's a better conductor of electrical current than silicon, 46 00:03:46,659 --> 00:03:49,120 and its thermal conductivity is better than that of copper. 47 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:52,939 Graphene is transparent because it's just one atom thick. 48 00:03:53,620 --> 00:03:56,199 It absorbs a little light, but basically you can look through it. 49 00:03:56,860 --> 00:03:58,219 It's also extremely flexible. 50 00:03:58,599 --> 00:04:00,039 That means you can bend it like rubber, 51 00:04:00,319 --> 00:04:02,479 but if you try to pull on it, it's like a diamond. 52 00:04:02,479 --> 00:04:05,960 So it's very hard and at the same time very flexible. 53 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,560 Nor the material that we know of has this combination of characteristics. 54 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:11,479 Here is a layer of graphene. 55 00:04:11,479 --> 00:04:16,519 it's applied to a sheet of clear plastic. Now imagine that that sheet can become a laptop 56 00:04:16,519 --> 00:04:24,319 computer, and it can then be folded into a cell phone, or even a headset, or all of this technology 57 00:04:24,319 --> 00:04:31,639 could be worn as a bracelet. Graphene can be used to make computer chips that are 10 times faster 58 00:04:31,639 --> 00:04:39,279 than today's chips made of silicon. Graphene can be used to transmit huge volumes of data around 59 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:41,339 the world at blinding speeds. 60 00:04:41,339 --> 00:04:46,839 It's fascinating how an idea born of scientific curiosity has already given rise to such an 61 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:51,040 amazing array of possible applications, so many and such different applications. 62 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:53,040 I've never seen anything like it. 63 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:58,319 To me, the most amazing thing is that graphene is made from carbon, one of the cheapest, 64 00:04:58,319 --> 00:05:00,160 most abundant elements on Earth. 65 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,839 And I can hardly wait for it to become a daily reality. 66 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:05,839 Alan and Sandra? 67 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:06,839 Same here, John. 68 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:08,000 All I can say is bring it on. 69 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:09,000 Thanks a lot.